The present invention relates to a panel cutting machine, particularly for wood panels.
As is known, machines of the above type substantially comprise:
a vertically movable, horizontal platform for supporting a stack of panels;
a first worktable;
means for removing a pack of panels off the stack and transferring the pack onto the first worktable;
a first cutting station along the first worktable, for cutting the pack along a first horizontal axis;
means for pushing the pack on the first worktable to the first cutting station;
a second worktable downstream from the first, and to which the pack cut at the first cutting station is supplied;
a second cutting station along the second worktable, for cutting the pack along a second horizontal axis perpendicular to the first; and
means for pushing the pack on the second worktable to the second cutting station.
In actual use, prior to cutting, the edge of the pack parallel to the cutting line is trimmed at the first cutting station, and the trimmings are pushed towards the second worktable to drop into a cavity defined between the two worktables. The cutting operation performed at the first station defines, for each panel, a number of strips, which may be either of the same or different widths.
The main drawback of the above machine is the difficulty in transferring thin, narrow strips from the first to the second worktable and along the second worktable to the second cutting station, owing to the obvious instability of packs of such strips, which tend to work loose during transfer.
What is more, in the event of one pack working loose, this causes a chain reaction, which also results in disarrangement of the packs of strips upstream and downstream, and misalignment of the packs supplied to the second cutting station, so that the machine must be turned off for the operator to realign the packs, with all the disadvantages this entails in terms of production time and cost.